An artist's rendering depicts planned new BART rail cars, each costing more than $5 million.

Photo: Khughe, Bay Area Rapid Transit

An artist's rendering depicts planned new BART rail cars, each...

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San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi makes his way to a hearing in Superior Court in San Francisco, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. San Francisco's newly elected sheriff appeared in court this for a hearing that could decide whether he can see his family again after being charged with domestic violence and other misdemeanors. Mirkarimi is scheduled to go to trial on Feb. 24 on charges that he bruised the right arm of his wife, former Venezuelan telenovela star Eliana Lopez, during a New Year's Eve incident at the couple's home. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

The base price for each car is about $3.7 million - but that doesn't count the $850,000 apiece that BART will spend on a list of extras that includes sending inspectors to oversee the manufacturing and assembly of the cars.

"That's a waste of taxpayer money," Haggerty said.

But BART officials insist their hands are tied.

None of the five companies that bid for the job is located in the United States.

And although bidders are required to use at least 60 percent U.S. materials and parts, federal law prohibits BART from specifying where in the country the final assembly work will be done. So it can't demand that the cars be put together in the Bay Area, or even in California.

That means BART staffers will first be traveling to Canada, France or South Korea to oversee the work, then possibly to the East Coast, where each of the three finalists has an assembly plant.

"It's a big number," Paul Oversier, the transit agency's assistant general manager for operations, said of the BART buy. "But when you consider the magnitude of the contract - the years of engineering that goes into it, the testing, the safety certification - all these things are important to ensuring we get a car that is reliable when it goes into service."

Frequent flier: President Obama will be back in San Francisco next month - once again as part of a West Coast fundraising swing.

A pair of Feb. 16 events are planned in the city - there's the $35,800-a-head dinner for 50 guests at the Pacific Heights home of novelist Robert Mailer Anderson and his wife, Nicola, followed by a large reception at a yet-to-be-decided public venue where tickets will go for anywhere from $100 to $10,000.

This will mark Obama's fourth visit to the Bay Area in a year. His last trip, in October, was also to raise money.

Join the party: Oakland police appear not to be the slightest bit upset over U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson's order for interim Police Chief Howard Jordanto "regularly consult" with a court-appointed monitor on everything from promotions to crowd control.

For two years, monitor Robert Warshawhas whacked the department for failing to comply with court-ordered reforms stemming from a decade-old scandal involving cops who allegedly framed some suspects and beat up others.

For this, the city has paid Warshaw and company about $700,000 a year.

Now Warshaw will be right in the mix and will have to answer to the judge directly, just like the brass - rather than criticizing the department from the sidelines.

Here comes the sheriff: San Francisco Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi hitched a ride with an on-duty sheriff's deputy to his court appearance Thursday at the Hall of Justice.

And unlike ordinary defendants, who must arrive through the front entrance, Mirkarimi was allowed to come into the building through a back door, and waited in a back room until being called.

No fewer than seven deputies stood inside the courtroom for Mirkarimi's appearance in the misdemeanor case - more than were on hand at the nearby trial for triple-murder defendant Edwin Ramos.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Susan Faheywould only confirm that Mirkarimi had gotten a department escort to his court hearing and that there was concern about the circus atmosphere.

Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX-TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or e-mail matierandross@sfchronicle.com.